A/N: This is my first Full Metal Panic fic and also my first oneshot. I hope you guys would like it. So here it is….

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Panic or any anime for that matter.


Rain

By anime-ted goddess

-

-

"ANNOUNCEMENT: TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE STUDENT COUNCIL AND TO ALL CLASS REPRESENTATIVES, THERE WILL BE A MEETING AT THE FUNCTION ROOM TODAY AFTER CLASS. I REPEAT, TO ALL…….."

"What? A meeting again?" A blue-haired girl said to no one in particular. "Well, I guess I'll have to go." She said with a sigh. There had been too many meetings lately since they have to plan for the annual fair. It's a much awaited event and they just can't afford to disappoint the whole school by being unprepared.

"Class dismissed."

What? The bell rang already? I must be thinking too much again.

"Goodbye, Kaname!" Her friend Kyouko exclaimed while heading out of the classroom; she didn't have the time to reply. Moments passed and another classmate disturbed her as she fixed her things.

"Chidori." His voice was without emotion.

"What?" came her reply. She knew exactly who it was and she's irritated. At this, the man behind her looked to the side, seemingly unsure of what to do next so that he would not further infuriate Kaname. Lately, he seems to be the reason of her bad moods. He didn't know why, and now is not the time to analyze this dangerous situation. He certainly had to think fast or else…

"Uhm…Nothing." He finally said and then he quickly ran away with his things before anything else can happen.

"Grrr…."Kaname turned, ready to hit the military freak who was Sousuke Sagara with her fan, but then when she did, he was already out of sight.

"Huh? What the ---? Where is that stupid military freak? Argh. Oh well…" Kaname then looked out the window, deep in thought. The clouds were a bit darker now and the sun is hiding somewhere, creating a shadow over the school. From up there, she could see the other students heading out of the campus, some in groups, some are alone and some walked in pairs.

It would be so nice if we could walk home together just like that. Just walking…without him looking out if there are enemies around. But then, that would be impossible. He's just so tense and uptight all the time. Never was he able to relax and enjoy the moments, especially when he's with me. After all, it's his mission to protect me at all times and by all means possible. His mission…his job…

At that thought, the blue-haired teen closed her eyes, not willing the tears to come. After a bit of thought, she remembered something.

"Oh crap! I'd be late!" Leaving all thoughts of the sergeant behind, she dashed out of the room heading to the meeting.

--

"Whew. Good thing I was able to clear out before she fired at me." He said as he glanced at his wrist watch. "16 hours, 37 minutes and 43 seconds. Why isn't she down here yet? She should be getting home by now." And after a little thought, he remembered. "Right. She has an important conference --- meeting --- to attend to."

Damn these military habits. I am so used to it I can seem to stop. I know these things tick her off. But then, when I try to analyze it, i know I would not be able to survive this mission without it. I wouldn't be able to protect her…if that happens…

I won't be able to forgive myself.

--


From her view across the window, she can see that the rain had started to fall and is getting heavier by the second. As usual, the meeting was making her feel bored to death. From time to time, she would attempt to listen and participate in the meeting so that she won't fall asleep. As she watched the rain fall down, she was reminded of a memory of another rainy day…

Flashback

'I just don't like the fact that he's in the middle of a battlefield with the smallest possibility of surviving. Being the specialist that he is, he must be at the front line or something…'

He's out again in another one of his missions and Kaname was left to be guarded by Mao. Lately, he had been frequently summoned by Mithril for missions.

'I hate worrying like this! We aren't even together or something like that…it's just that…I miss him a lot when he's gone but when he's here, I get disappointed and al because of his stupid military attitude. Oh Sousuke…please get home safe…'

"I have to get these homeworks done!" she shouted, trying to get rid of her thoughts on the sergeant. But before she could start with anything, she heard a slow but loud banging on her front door.

'Who could that be?'

She went down to see who it was and was surprised when she opened the door. A man, drenched with rain, staggered and fell onto her, leaning all of his weight on Kaname. She tried to hold the man up to see who it was. At first she didn't recognize who the man was but when she looked closely, she knew right away.

It was Sousuke Sagara.

An extremely wet, very wounded, almost dead Sousuke Sagara.

Before she had time to panic, the man moved a little to adjust his weight. In a weak tone he said, "Kaname…I…s---s--orr---ry…" and then he fainted. Kaname quickly dragged him A/N: he's too heavy for her to carry to the living room and laid his body on the sofa.

"Oh gods…Sousuke…." That was all she could say as she stared at his blood stained uniform. He had blood seeping out of his right arm and both his legs. His torso seemed to have suffered a lot too. But what got her all worried was that he had blood flowing from his head down to the side of his face. He was totally unconscious now and his breathing was slow and laboured.

"Hold on a little longer…please…" She quickly got up and got some towels and warm water. Kaname took off the sergeant's top and washed his wounds. His uniform was so wet with the rain and his blood. Although she did everything she could, the bleeding just won't stop. Feeling extremely worried, she meant to make a phone call but when she tried to stand up, a cold hand held her wrist but it was not really the hand that stopped her, it was his words.

"Kaname…please…stay here…with me…"

His eyes were only half open and his voice was raspy and barely audible. But she heard it right. He wanted her to stay. Kaname had the urge to shout at him, to tell him how stupid that idea was, and that she should be calling an ambulance right now if he wants to go on with his life, but she just stood there, unmoving, seemingly still shocked at the young man's request.

Slowly and very carefully, she lifted his head from the sofa and instead sat on that space so he could rest his head on her lap. Kaname didn't realize that she was crying until Sousuke lifted his arm, with much difficulty, and used the back of his hand to wipe away her tears. Instead of stopping her, she just cried some more. Tears continue to well up and flow down her pale cheeks.

"Don't cry…Kaname. I'll be fine…" He was still very weak to move much but that didn't stop him from curving his lips into a somewhat sad smile as he said:

"Just as long as you're here…"

End of Flashback

"That's all for today." The president's voice snapped her out of trance. "Don't forget your assigned jobs. We need confirmation two days from now. Dismissed."

Phew. Now I could go home.

As she walked down the halls, thoughts of him came over her. She did not know what to make of that moment at her house. She wondered if it means something more. But the again, after that incident, nothing changed between them. It was as if no words were said that day. Sigh.

Absentmindedly, she reached the exit door only to realize that it was in fact raining heavily outside and she had no umbrella with her.

"How lucky." She said sarcastically to no one in particular. Since she had no choice, she decided to just walk through the rain. She knew well that her things would be soaked after this but then it was important for her to get home; she's really exhausted.

Besides, when was the last time I walked under the rain without an umbrella? I'd just enjoy the moment; there's nothing else I could do about it anyway…

Without further ado, she stepped forward out into the rain. Kaname did not bother to run home thinking that it would just make things worse by sending dirt and water up her slender legs. She looked ahead and she could only make out a blurred view of the street she's in.

If he sees me like this, he'd probably start lecturing me on how unstrategic this place is, how unsafe I would be if there were any enemies around. He'd go on ranting about how dangerous this situation might be for me…acting as if he actually cared…when in fact…I'm…I'm just a mission to him…and nothing more…

Lately, all thoughts of him led to this conclusion: she's just a mission to be completed. She did not know when this started but one day she just woke up and realized that she's not really important to that sergeant. Moreover, whenever he was asked why he's doing all the saving and stuff, he would just say that it was his job to do so.

That's what makes it worse. Hearing him say those words hurt a lot. Especially when uttered in front of her. It was like a smack on the face with a resounding whack!

Tears streamed down her face as she thought more about him. She was not aware of this since the heavy rain quickly washed her hot tears away. At some point, she stopped walking and just stood in the middle of the street, letting all of her emotions fall. She sobbed hard and shivered from the cold. Instinctively, she dropped her schoolbag and wrapped her arms around herself.

Suddenly, the raining stopped.

Or so she thought.

Kaname thought she was going crazy. She looked up, wondering how it was possible that no more rain fell on her while it did everywhere else around her. Apparently, someone sheltered her under an umbrella.

The man wore their black school uniform. The young man was holding his umbrella with his right hand. He's tall and had dark brown hair. His eyes were deep black pools and right now, Kaname just couldn't read the emotions it held inside. Indeed it was Sousuke.

"You're going to catch a cold." His tone was neutral, his expression was blank too. None of his features gave away any sign of how he feels.

Kaname had stopped crying and just stared while Sousuke watched her. She was actually expecting a different statement from him. She half-expected him to scold her and all that for being under this bad weather. But he didn't.

They now walked together silently. The only sound that could be heard was that of the rain and the squishing of their soaked shoes. Kaname noticed that the right side of the young man's uniform was getting wet from the rain. Apparently, the umbrella was too small for two people. Here she was, all wet but not a drop of rain fell on her anymore while a previously dry Sousuke was getting soaked because of her.

How stupid.

"You know, that umbrella is no use to me. I'm all wet already." With that, she left him under the umbrella and walked ahead. He said something in reply but his voice was eaten by the sound of the rain. She figured he might still follow her but she didn't complain about it like she usually does.

Besides, it's nice to have him around…even though to him, it's all just a part of his work…

After a while she looked back to check on him and found out that he didn't follow her. He was standing at the exact spot where she left him but now without the umbrella. He seemed to have discarded the umbrella as soon as she left him since he was dripping wet already. His hair was damp and dripping and he kept on squinting and blinking his eyes so he could see under the circumstances. Without thinking, Kaname walked back to him and whacked him on the head with her bag.

WHACK!

"Ouch!" His hand came up to the back of his head o rub it. "What was that for?"

Kaname's hands curled into fists as she looked down on the wet ground. She didn't answer Sousuke's question and instead just kept herself quiet. The young man though, noticed that she was shaking slightly and he wondered if he should do something about it but before he could do anything, she spoke.

"You're just so stupid sometimes." It was barely a whisper nut Sousuke heard every word. "Why do you do this to me?" Her voice was shaking. The sergeant assumed it was due to the cold. "You act so kind around me. You seem to care about my well-being."

"Of course. My mission is to---"

"That's it!" The blue haired girl shouted, not wanting him to continue what he was saying. She had been keeping this for so long but now she couldn't do that anymore. "A mission; I am just your mission; A job that you agreed on doing because it was assigned to you." She looked up to see his face and saw his shock. Clearly, he didn't expect any of this. "That's all I am to you. And that's all I'll ever be…"

Sousuke saw clearly the hurt in her eyes. If only it hadn't been raining at the time, he was 90 sure she was crying. He hates to see her like this especially when he's the cause of it. See, Kaname Chidori doesn't cry that often. It pained him that she is crying now but it also hurt that she thinks of him this way.

"You're so unfair. How dare you think that?" His voice was hurt. "Here I am, always risking my safety for yours, almost dying just so you could live and now you're telling me all this?" He was so close to getting angry now. "I could have refused, you know. I could have let Mao or Kurst do it…but no."

He took a step forward, lessening the gap between them. Ever-so-gently, he placed his right hand at the nape of her neck and pulled her towards him so that her head is resting on his chest. In turn, his left arm wound itself around her slim waist and pulled her body close to his.

Her heart was beating fast, he could feel it. Her whole body was cold and damp and she was shaking a little. The teenage girl made no sound or movement and just waited.

"Can't you see? I want to be the one to watch you all day. I want to be the one to protect you, to keep you safe. I want to be close to you Kaname. I want to be always with you." He tightened his embrace on her. "I don't ever want to risk losing you…that's why I'm here."

Now he's sure she was crying. She was sobbing hard against him and her warm tears countered the cold rain running down his uniform-clad chest. Her body was shaking uncontrollably now and he could feel her body go weak in his arms. Her arms went around his back and her hands grabbed on to his uniform.

"So don't ever think that you are just a mission to me because you're not. You're more than just that." Before he continued, he let go a little to make her look at him in the eyes. When their eyes met, he spoke with all sincerity.

"I love you, my Kaname…"

With that, his lips met hers in a loving kiss.

And there they were, under the rain, holding each other close as if their lives depended on it, both of them thinking…

If all rainy days were like this, I'd wish it rained for the rest of my life…

-

-

-

-

-

-

THE END

--


A/N: Hope you liked it! Please REVIEW! Comments, suggestions and constructive criticisms are very much welcome!